thinning vallejo model color airbrushing

[slupanter]

What ratio you guy say?

See I'm using AK chipping fluid.

[BarryW]

I did roughly 50:50 the other day. I usually spray Model Air but had to use Colour for RLM72 (Model Colour 866 being the nearest equivalent) and much to my surprise I found it sprayed really well and was very forgiving. I used Vallejo thinner.

[Guest]

Alex I do about Barry's thinning ratio with Vallejo thinner. Have also used a bit of retarder. I have found with both Vallejo Air & Model that it depends on the colour.

Airbrushed cokpit interior green last night & it is a perfect colour to airbrush. Other colours I have had problems with & had to thin & then thin.

Laurie

[Guest]

With Vallejo, try starting with the thinnest mix you can, say 70/30 and a low pressure such as 10 PSI.

Try that on some scrap & vary the paint/thinner ratio until you're happy with the results.

Personally, I like a 60/40 ratio (roughly!) and about 10-12 PSI.

Play around with it until it works for you.

Cheers

Patrick

[Guest]

Also to add Andrew that we do not know what size needle/nozzle size your are using. This makes it difficult to give more precise detail.

I have to thin a lot more using a .2 nozzle than I do with a .4 nozzle. May also depend on your make of airbrush. A factor is are you stopping & starting a lot in which case you may need to thin a bit more & also perhaps use retarder. Yesterday I forgot to clean my airbrush & left it for a couple of hours. But amazingly it picked up where it had left off. It was the interior green again.

Best advice as Patrick says just experiment.

Laurie

[slupanter]

I have

1x 0.5 RV-CR

1x 0.3 RV-CR

1x 0.2 HP-BR hi line

What are the ratios for the 3 brushes?

[Guest]

That has put me on the spot Alexander. I actually use Harder & Steenbeck brushes but would not have thought they were much different from Iawata as they are both good quality.

For the .2 nozzle. Model Air try about 20% thin

Model try 50% though you may need more thinning. If you look at Model Air after thinning you need a similar consistency for the model.

Do not use a .3 or .5. But with a .4 Model air no thinning. Model I would go for 30%.

I use 20 PSI on the compressor.

These are rough figures & as said by Patrick practice & see the result. There are very many ifs & buts. Temperature etc. all make a difference & colour. Not the actual colour just consistency of the paint for some reason. Black, silver & steel in Model seem very thick.

Found once I had a bit of experience with practice you could gauge the thinner element.

You may already do the following but here goes. If your airbrush is gravity fed then what I do is to pour in a little paint then the thinner then the rest of the paint as required. I then use a smallish brush to give the paint & thinner a rake around. Found if you put the thinner in first you can get a good squirt of thinner out first. Squirt on an old discarded plastic bottle to test before airbrushing on a model.

Laurie

[Guest]

An easy rule of thumb : the smaller the nozzle, the thinner the paint & the lower the pressure.

I'm surprised you spray at 20 PSI Laurie, I'd find that like fighting a firehose!

Personally I don't think the make of brush matters a bit. Essentially, there are no exact ratios or whatever to use. What one person finds great might not work for another - the pressure difference between Laurie & myself is an excellent example!

Experiment & practice, it's the best way to find your own style & preference.

[Guest]

Patrick has pretty much sumed it up , my ratio for model colour using a iwata cr5 is roughly 60/40 and iwata br3 roughly 50/50 for PSI I use between 15 to 18 , if I`m using say alclad I go down to about 10 psi , these methods work for me but what works for one person may not work for another , as Patrick has said practice and see what works for you.

for model air I still add a few drops of thinners again this works for me although some people swear you don`t need to, there is no magic formula .

Cheers

Richy

[slupanter]

Thanks guy for your help. The lessons I have learnt are key. smaller needle more thinner (using the 50:50 raito as base calulation)